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Congressman Cohen Votes for Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act

February 26, 2020

Creates federal law against lynching named for 1955 lynching victim

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today voted for, and the House passed, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act. The bill is named for the 14-year-old lynching victim killed in Money, Mississippi, in 1955, and makes lynching a federal crime for the first time.

The vote was 410 to 4.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"The murder of Emmett Till shocked the nation and was particularly resonant in the Mid-South. Unfortunately, we are still being confronted with the racism that took his life. Passage of this anti-lynching measure and naming it for Emmett Till sends the message that we will never forget his tragic death and we will not tolerate bigotry."

Earlier this month, Congressman Cohen Congressman asked FBI Director Christopher Wray about the bureau's investigations of right-wing extremist and white nationalist threats, including from neo-Nazis groups and Ku Klux Klan members like those who marched in the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in 2017. He also asked whether the Emmett Till case has been re-opened and whether other "cold cases" from that time are being reviewed.

See Congressman Cohen's exchange with Director Wray here.

Also, see Congressman Cohen's remarks during the markup of the bill last June 12 here where he called lynching "a terrorist act."

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